The present invention relates to the trucking industry and, more particularly to bumper systems and bumper components to be used for trucks and trailers.
The Department of Transportation (“DOT”), among other things, provides regulations for controlling the safety of the trucking industry. One of the areas regulated by the DOT is the configuration and use of bumpers on tractor-trailers and trucks. One of the key factors driving the regulations concerning bumpers is the protection of automobile drivers. The operating environment for trucks and tractor-trailers can easily result in the occurrence of damage to a bumper. This damage can often times result in the bumper falling outside of the DOT regulations. To ensure conformance with DOT regulations, it is necessary to inspect the bumpers of truck and tractor trailers, and periodically repair or replace the same. This process can be expensive and time consuming. Thus, there is a need in the art for a technique to reduce the expense associated with maintaining conformance with DOT regulations pertaining to truck and tractor-trailer bumpers.
Currently, most bumper configurations are rigidly mounted to a frame or some sort of a non-rebounding impact absorption means. Both of these configurations result in the need for the repair or replacement of a bumper that has been subject to an impact (i.e., backing into the loading dock or being struck by another moving vehicle from behind). Thus, current bumper configurations are subject to permanent deformation upon impact. The replacement or repair of such bumpers can be quite costly. The labor cost can be costly but even more important, is the potential revenue lost while the truck or tractor-trailer is taken out of commission. Thus, there is a need in the art for a bumper system that can reduce the need for replacement or repair due to impact and to reduce the cost associated with maintaining the trucks and tractor-trailers in commission.
Currently, bumpers are attached to trucks and tractor-trailers by being welded to the frame of the vehicle or trailer. To replace such a bumper, costly labor is necessary to cut the bumper free and weld a new or repaired bumper in its place. Thus, there is a need in the art for a bumper system that can be more easily replaced and at a reduced cost.
The rugged operating environment for trucks and tractor-trailers often results in damage being incurred. One common situation is the damage incurred while backing a truck or trailer up to a loading dock. It would be greatly beneficial to have a mechanism that could warn a truck driver that contact with an object has been made and thus, allow the driver to stop the vehicle and prevent the occurrence of damage. Thus, there is a need in the art for a contact warning mechanism for bumpers.
Due to the stringent regulations promulgated by the DOT, it has been difficult to conceive of a bumper system that can meet the above-identified needs in the art, as well as maintain conformance with the DOT regulations. This is especially true in attempting to conceive of a universally adaptable bumper system that can be utilized on a wide variety of trucking platforms. For instance, the DOT regulations require that a rear bumper must maintain a distance of 22 inches from the ground, even after being deformed through contact. Typical bumpers that allow for movement during impact result in a violation of this regulation. Thus, there is a need in the art for a bumper system that addresses the above-identified needs in the art and that maintains conformance with DOT regulations.
What is needed, therefore, is a bumper configuration that is less susceptible to damage caused by impact, and thus can help reduce the cost associated with the repair or replacement of the bumper, can provide an impact warning indicator to the driver and that maintains conformance with DOT regulations.